How I “Crack” My Inbox

Over on the LinkedIn Influencer network, I’ve revealed how I manage my often-overflowing inbox. It’s not exactly rocket science, but enough people have found it interesting that I thought I’d share it in a professional context. If you’re interested in stuff like this, give it a read and let me know what you think. From the post:

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Whenever I hear a friend or colleague complain about how their email inbox is “out of control” I take the opportunity to toss out a humblebrag: I never go to sleep before getting my inbox down to ten or fewer messages. Every so often, I even get it to zero.

Like many of you, I use my inbox as something of a To Do list. If something is lurking in there for more than a day or two, it usually represents something I have to get around to doing. Right now, for example, there are 15 or so messages awaiting my response. (Only 15? Yes, that’s the beauty of keeping it under 10 before bed, then culling again right before breakfast).

Of those messages, one is a memo written by a colleague I need to read, respond to, and distribute to others. Another is a suggestion of a book I should read. There’s a reminder that a draft of a blog post is ready for my review, a request for a guest column in Ad Age (that’s a big commitment of time, I’m letting it percolate), three meeting requests, and two requests for me to review new businesses for purposes of investment or advice. There’s also a couple email news summaries (from News.me or Media Redefined) – these are sources for posts I write each Sunday night called Signal.

That’s a pretty typical looking inbox for me, and about five more such emails come in every ten or so minutes. Each is a marker asking for my time. …..By the end of a typical workday, I’ll have about 70-90 pre-screened emails sitting patiently in my inbox, all of which I’ve determined demand some kind of response. This is when things can get hairy. After all, each mail probably equates to at least two or three minutes of focused time, often more. That’s at least three hours of email to get through each night!

One thought on “How I “Crack” My Inbox”

Everyone has their own approach – I’ve used flag colors or category boxes; I think we all need some approach to organizing email or creating hierarchies of importance. It’s the only way I know to edit quickly…I still think the whole email thing has remained clunky.